The Australian share market is set to open the week marginally higher following modest gains in the US and mixed results across Europe.
The futures market is expected to be three points higher on Monday with US jobs growth, a drop in oil and gold prices painting a mixed picture, CommSec chief economist Craig James said.
The S&P500 closed seven points higher on Friday, after a US jobs announcement which revealed 235,000 jobs were created in February.
"It'll be a mildly positive start because we did get those gains in the United States," Mr James said.
"Encouragingly their economy remains very strong and the Federal Reserve is on track to lift interest rates by a quarter of a per cent."
However, falling oil prices, which have dropped to a three month low, plus dips in gold and nickel prices will weigh on the energy sector, Mr James said.
"The concern with oil is the amount of suppliers on the US market, so that's offsetting some of the OPEC determination to keep down production and support prices," Mr James said.
He said cautious investors were waiting for the release of investment, production and retail data from China mid-week and the result of Holland's election on Wednesday.
"Election results in the last year or so have been quite volatile and unpredictable," Mr James said.
"With the Chinese data, we're just wanting to get a check on that data and make sure economy is tracking nicely.
"But on all the proceeding figures we've had, trade and inflation, suggest the China economy in very good shape."
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release February's labour force figures on Thursday, while companies will begin paying out returns leading into the height of dividend season in coming weeks.
"Something like $22 billion will be payed out across the course of the season," Mr James said.
The Australian dollar is sitting at 75.4 US cents, a positive result in light of US interest rate rises which is supporting the greenback, according to Mr James.
"It might ease modestly over time but it is supported by good growth in the global economy," he said.
Share
